(Family Crossings) – Landscaping not only makes your home more beautiful but also can make it more valuable. In fact, a Michigan State University study found that, depending on where the house is located, high-quality landscaping adds between five and 11 percent to its price.
However, good landscaping is about more than just plants. Paths, benches, walls, water features – they’re all part of hardscaping and can make or break the look of your yard and garden landscape.
In the competitive housing market, every feature of a home is crucial in attracting potential buyers. The home’s exterior makes the first impression, and hardscapes, as important elements of landscaping, play a critical role gaining a return on value. Along with helping a property stand out in buyers’ minds, a carefully thought-out landscape using hardscapes allows homeowners to express their creativity and personality through the variety of options available.
Create Your Own Path
A well-made concrete walkway or garden path not only stands up to years of hard use, it enhances the natural landscape and complements a home’s exterior features.
Traditional walkway materials like brick and stone can be pricey and often difficult to install. As an easy and inexpensive alternative, you can build a new concrete path using manufactured molds, such as the Quikrete WalkMaker building forms. The result is a beautiful pathway that mirrors the texture and appearance of brick or natural stone with all the durability and economy of poured concrete. Typically, the cost to install a 10-foot-long concrete path is about $50 to $60 for materials.
With a variety of form patterns available (Basket Weave Brick, European Block Brick, Country Stone and Running Bond Brick), you can create a pathway, patio or walkway that matches your home’s style.
Colorful Choices
Coloring gives molded concrete a more natural looking finish and is great for blending your path or walkway into your landscape design. Adding colorant to the concrete mix is the easiest method and produces consistent results.
Easy ways to add extra appeal
For other ways to add interest to your home’s exterior, think about incorporating hardscaping elements such as stone, rock and sand in your yard and garden landscape. They’re available in almost a limitless range of colors, sizes and textures. For example, the new HardScapes by Quikrete line includes an assortment of landscaping stones, pebbles, rocks and sands.
For more project ideas, step-by-step instructions and a quantity calculator, visit www.quikrete.com.